Tuesday, 7 October 2014

From the October 6th edition of The Vancouver Province, and syndicated around the world, an article by Drs. Mehmet Oz and Michael Roizen.

Not that I have ever met any brain-dead pot heads or anything.

Pot Legality Doesn't Mean It's Smart to Use

October 6, 2014

With clever names like Peace of Mind, Girl Scout Cookies, Train Wreck and Tsunami, it's a good bet that the marketers of legal marijuana finished high school.

That's less certain for their younger customers.

New research shows daily marijuana use before the age of 17 cuts your chances of graduating from high school or getting a college degree by 60 percent. And that info's just the tip of the joint.

Now that marijuana is legal for recreational use in Washington and Colorado, and for medical purposes in 19 other states plus the District of Columbia, scientists are able to study the drug more closely.

The result is an outpouring of data on marijuana's formerly unknown or underappreciated risks.

One new study found that 40 percent of cannabis-using adolescents receiving treatment for substance abuse report symptoms of withdrawal - a true marker for drug dependence (addiction).

And kids are eight times more likely to use illicit drugs later in life if they smoke marijuana regularly.

Another study found that adolescents who smoke pot daily shed an average of six IQ points by adulthood; points you're not getting back, and that can mean the difference between an engaged, rewarding life and not!

Just because the drug is legal in some places, doesn't mean it's smart to use it. As Derek Jeter says: "If you have dreams and aspirations to be successful, drugs and alcohol are only going to alter those dreams. Try to stay away from them and find something more productive to do with your time."

Infected men and women may not be contagious on the plane, but
they could wreak havoc when they arrive.

David Dausey, a Yale-trained epidemiologist who works on
controlling pandemics, is dean of the School of Health Professions and Public
Health at Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania.

The United States got its first scare from Ebola last week when Thomas Eric
Duncan, a man sick with the virus, traveled from Liberia
to Dallas. This man was feared to have been in contact with up to 100 people
after he became contagious, all of whom had to be individually evaluated by
public health professionals for their exposure risk. Half of these individuals
are currently under observation. Nine of them considered to be at highest risk
are being checked twice daily for symptoms.

Bodily fluids including vomit spread Ebola, and Duncan — who presented
himself to a Dallas hospital only to be misdiagnosed and sent home — vomited on
the sidewalk outside of his home. It took days before a properly trained Hazmat
crew was sent to the apartment to clean
it. The human errors in this single case highlight why it is urgent that we
ban all commercial flights from the impacted countries to all non-affected
countries until the outbreak is contained. *

Individuals who suspect they have been exposed to Ebola and have the means to
travel to the United States have every reason to get on a plane to the United
States as soon as possible. There are no
direct flights from the three most-affected nations, but passengers can transfer
elsewhere, as Duncan did. If they stay in Africa, the probability that
they will survive the illness if they have it is quite low. If they make
it to the United States, they can expect to receive the best medical care the
world can provide, and they will have a much higher probability of survival. So
they are motivated to lie about their exposure status (wouldn’t you, in their
shoes?) to airlines and public health officials and travel to the United States.
*

The incubation period for Ebola is up to 21 days, so a
person could get on a plane the day he or she is exposed and spend three weeks
in the United States or elsewhere before exhibiting symptoms. Then he or she
could potentially infect any number of people here before the disease is
properly diagnosed, and they are isolated or quarantined. *

Top U.S. government health officials have spoken strongly against creating a
travel
ban (though members of Congress increasingly disagree). They say
restricting flights will also restrict aid to affected countries and will
increase the amount of ongoing unrest. But commercial airlines are not the only
ways for the United States to send aid and aid workers. The United States has
the most advanced military in the entire world; we can transport people and
supplies without commercial carriers.

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa has been compared to a war zone. The
disease is now being viewed as a national security threat on par with nuclear
weapons. The United States has committed nearly 4,000
troops to impacted countries. It’s time to take security precautions that
align with the gravity of the threat. That means doing whatever it takes to keep
infected people from coming here.

Correction: Language was added to the paragraphs marked
by an asterisk (*) to clarify that there are no direct flights to the United
States, though flights stop in other non-affected nations.